São Paulo – The life of Brazil’s Gabriela Lirio (pictured above) changed completely when she moved to Saudi Arabia. Lirio has a Foreign Trade degree but wasn’t working in the field in the Arab country when she was invited to play professional volleyball. The invitation, which is really rare in sports, was celebrated by the 30-plus-years-old Brazilian.
“While searching for a work opportunity in the country, I got a personal trainer certification to give classes to female students in a gym. On a certain workday last year, I received the invitation. I trained for some months and then I started playing in a local team. If I was still in Brazil, I’d never been called to play at my age.”
Together with her teammates, she helped Al-Ettifaq win a silver medal at Saudi Games 2022, the kingdom’s largest sporting event. Now at 34, Lirio changed team and is now playing at AlQadsiah. In December she will participate again in the Saudi Games, now in beach volleyball matches.
“I’ve always liked playing volleyball. When I was a teenager, I played for four years for a local team in my city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul. But the sports took a back seat when I started studying and working in foreign trade,” Lirio recalls.
Besides feeling accomplished in her new profession, Lirio says the country where she has lived since 2015 gave her many achievements. “I feel very safe in Saudi Arabia. In my nearly nine years living here, I only heard of two theft incidents. When I go on holidays in Brazil, I have to remember myself to keep an eye out on the streets. People here walk on the street with their cellphones in their hands and leave the car with the keys in the ignition whey they go to the market.”
Living in Saudi Arabia has also allowed her new cultural experiences. Due to its proximity to Europe and other Middle East states, she has visited destinations like Malta, Albania, Italy, Bahrain and Qatar.
Living in Saudi Arabia
After two student exchange programs during college, one in the United States and the other in Spain, living abroad stayed at the forefront of her mind. So, when her then boyfriend and current husband received a job offer in the oil industry, she didn’t think twice before moving there with him.
Despite the high temperatures in Al Khobar, the Saudi city where she lives, she says she has acclimated herself to the weather and that she changed her habits when she’s in Brazil. “As I go to air-conditioned places, the heat doesn’t bother me anymore, and I don’t do outdoor activities.”
Lirio says she really likes to drive and that she has gotten used to the local cuisine. The experience of living overseas has helped her improve her English and brought her closer to her husband.
Now she is well adapted to the Saudi customs, but when she first arrived to the Arab Muslim country, some habits surprised her like the call to prayers in mosques, some hygiene habits that are different from Brazil, and the increased rigidity with bad habits like cutting in line, picking your nose, talk loudly in public, and spitting on the streets.
For those who consider living in Saudi Arabia, Gabriela Lirio highlights some pros:
- There’s no income tax here. So it’s a good place to make your nest egg.
- Wages are usually very good.
- Super strict laws make for a low crime rate.
- The country is the birthplace of one of the world’s largest religions and has many historical landmarks to visit.
Special report by Rebecca Vettore for ANBA
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
